Tata Motors today announced that the 2019 Tata Harrier SUV will launch in India on 23 January. We have already driven the new SUV and have come away largely impressed. Tata Motors has already started accepting bookings for the Harrier SUV in India for a token amount of Rs 30,000. It is being speculated that the Tata Harrier SUV will be priced between Rs 16 to Rs 21 lakh wherein it will lock horns with the Mahindra XUV500, Hyundai Creta and also the Jeep Compass.

The Tata Harrier will be launched in January. Image: tech2/ Ankit Vengurlekar

Under the Harrier's hood is the FCA-sourced 2.0-litre four-cylinder diesel engine, dubbed Kryotec by Tata Motors. It has been detuned in the interest of better fuel efficiency (Tata Motors has not revealed the Harrier's claimed fuel efficiency figure yet). The engine offers 140PS in this guise, unlike the 173PS it offers in the Compass, though the torque output for the Harrier is identical at 350Nm. The engine is mated to a six-speed manual gearbox and this is the only engine-gearbox combination on offer currently and while an automatic transmission is expected, there is no time line for that yet. Details on the Tata Harrier's performance here.

As for braking, it has a front disc-rear drum brake set-up, with ABS, EBD and the assortment of hill hold and descent control systems. Image: tech2/ Ankit Vengurlekar

The Harrier (previously the H5X concept) is based on Jaguar Land Rover's entry-level D8 SUV platform, variations of which support cars like the Land Rover Discovery Sport, Jaguar E-Pace and the Range Rover Evoque. Tata's version, called Omega-Arc (Optimal Modular Efficient Global Advanced Architecture) involves the use of cheaper materials and components to keep costs down.

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